Reaping the cost of a past mistake

Thursday

Jan 24, 2013 at 3:15 AM

School Superintendent Mike Hopkins, addressing the City Council last week about the shortcomings of East Rochester School, suggested that the cost to bring the school up to snuff will likely exceed $10 million. How much in excess of $10 million will not be known until next month, although it is worth noting that back in October, the price tag for ERS’s “Option 3” was between $7.8 million and $8.7 million. That’s the sort of shifting target that makes cautious taxpayers and fiscally conservative elected official nervous, and not without reason.

The case for adding classroom walls into a school once trumpeted to be on the cutting edge of education is hard to resist, however. Notwithstanding the fashionable philosophy of the 1970s, when open concept classrooms mania swept the nation, the cons of such architecture seem to outweigh the pros, as judged by the number of schools that have since reverted to the more traditional classroom. The one-room school house on steroids idea seems to have been deemed a mistake — and a costly one at that.

It is possible, of course, to comb through websites where civilized discussion between teachers, parents and members of the public includes the attributes and the drawbacks of classrooms without walls, but we would suggest that, on balance, the debate is over. Walls and common sense have won. Years ago, in fact, most open concept teachers marked off their territory with bookcases and tall filing cabinets, thwarting one of the educational theorists’ goals — that of allowing children to move freely around the open space.

Unfortunately, book cases and cabinets can’t keep down the accumulated noise of multiple teachers trying to convey information and keep order, and while some students may be able to function adequately in low level “mayhem,” as School Board member Sue O’Connor expressed it, not all youngsters can.

Hopkins also made the important point that all classrooms in the open concept part of East Rochester School share the lighting system. Problems arise when one class wishes to watch a film or screen presentation with the lights off, while other classes are doing regular work.

The cost of the mistake becomes apparent when a school, like East Rochester School, wants to rejoin the fold of traditional learning environments. It is not just the lighting systems that have to be revamped — the whole HVAC layout has to be reconfigured — heating, ventilation and air conditioning ducts will have to be replaced, which translates into major rehabilitation work. On the bright side, it may help to give the flagging local construction industry a boost, but it will certainly be reflected in property tax bills, though by how much is still uncertain, for there is a risk of price creep with this project. “Likely to exceed $10 million” is a worrisome phrase.

We are sure that most school board members and city councilors will be keeping an eagle eye on costs, if this project gets the go ahead — and given the circumstances, it is hard to see it being blocked.

The lesson to be learned by decision makers in the education field must be to beware of fadism and to look at the next fashionable idea that comes down the pike with a jaundiced eye, while, at the same time, welcoming truly progressive advances, such as more technology in the classroom — the classroom with walls, that is.